Social Enterprise Conference: Capital for Good
November 30, 2018 | 8:45 AM–6 PM | Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Dr, New York, NY 10027
The business and investor community once questioned whether it could afford to prioritize social impact. The consensus is now clear—how can businesses afford not to? The Millennial and Gen Z generations are driving trends in impact investing, using their purchasing power to demand change, and seeking employers that are socially conscious. As a result, funders and the organizations they invest in are directing their attention not only to the bottom line, but also to how business and financing models can be aligned to positively contribute to society.
This headline event, located in the finance capital of the world, provides a unique opportunity to tap into the vibrant ecosystem of capital for impact through the lens of philanthropy, impact investing, ESG, and social venture and business examples. Social impact leaders in business, government, nonprofit, and philanthropy will speak to how they are changing the way we think about how capital is sourced and used to generate sustainable solutions to global, systemic challenges. Hear where opportunities exist to pursue future careers of impact on both the financing and implementation sides of social impact capital.
Join us on November 30, 2018 as we bring together industry leaders, investors, philanthropists, professionals, faculty, students, and alumni to share best practices and engender new ideas surrounding the intersection of capital and society. Speaker presentations will catalyze conversations of change and embolden a generation to take risks in order to create a world in which everyone, regardless of where they were born, has the equal opportunity to succeed in creating a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.
This conference was founded by Columbia Business School’s Social Enterprise Club members in 2002, and has grown to engage students across Columbia University, as the pre-eminent forum to explore and address the ever-changing topics of social justice and innovation from the lens of business solutions.
Agenda
8:45-9:00 | Registration Opens and Networking | |
8:45-9:00 | Welcome Remarks | |
9:00-9:50 | Creating a Replicable Charter School Model for Education Reform | |
10:00-10:50 | Private Equity Investments in Impact Investing | Trends in Social Impact Real Estate Development + Affordable Housing |
11:00-11:50 | Capital Deployment for Scaling Social Ventures | Opportunity Zones + Community Development Financing |
12:00-12:20 | Lunch and Networking | |
12:20-1:10 | Using Capital to Ensure Access to Quality Healthcare with Pfizer, Inc. and Pfizer Foundation | |
1:20-2:10 | Intergenerational Wealth Transfer + Millennials Driving Impact | Sports Philanthropy |
2:20-3:10 | Clean Energy + Renewables | Foundations with Impact Focused Portfolios |
3:10-3:30 | Networking and Coffee Break | |
3:30-4:20 | Darren Walker, The Ford Foundation | |
4:25-4:30 | Closing Remarks and Thank You | |
5:00 | Networking Reception | |
Keynote: Creating a Replicable Charter School Model for Education Reform
Joel Greenblatt, Managing Principal and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Gotham Asset Management
Moderated by Tracy Breslin, Executive Director, Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders; Adjunct faculty, Columbia Business School
Bios
Joel Greenblatt serves as managing principal and co-chief investment officer of Gotham Asset Management, the successor to Gotham Capital, an investment firm he founded in 1985. Since 1996, he has been a professor on the adjunct faculty of Columbia Business School where he teaches “Value and Special Situation Investing.” Mr. Greenblatt is a director of Pzena Investment Management, Inc., a global investment management firm. He formerly served on the Investment Boards of the University of Pennsylvania and the UJA Federation. Mr. Greenblatt is the author of You Can Be A Stock Market Genius (Simon & Schuster, 1997), The Little Book that Beats the Market (Wiley, 2005), The Little Book that Still Beats the Market (Wiley, 2010), and The Big Secret for the Small Investor (Random House, 2011). He is the Former Chairman of the Board (1994-1995) of Alliant Techsystems, a NYSE-listed aerospace and defense contractor. He holds a BS (1979), summa cum laude, and an MBA (1980) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tracy Breslin has dedicated her career to ensuring that all students–regardless of background–receive a high-quality education that prepares them to succeed in school and life. Tracy brings twenty years of experience in education and nonprofit management to the executive director role at the Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders, a nonprofit organization that trains principals in Philadelphia’s district, charter, and faith-based schools. Prior to joining School Leaders, Tracy served as a talent management consultant, working with a variety of urban school districts and state departments of education on human capital initiatives including school leadership pipelines, principal supervisors, teacher effectiveness, educator evaluations, and talent management. Tracy also teaches an education leadership course at Columbia Business School. As interim chief talent officer at Newark Public Schools, Tracy designed human capital reforms, facilitated teacher contract negotiations, and led teams to redesign educator evaluation, compensation, teacher and principal selection, and central human resources support. At the New York City Department of Education, Tracy led the Office of School Leadership to recruit, select, train, and support aspiring and current school leaders. Before that, Tracy led recruitment and admissions at New Leaders for New Schools, a national nonprofit focused on attracting and preparing outstanding school leaders. Tracy launched her career by evaluating and designing Universal Prekindergarten programs, working in after-school programs, and facilitating professional development for educators. Tracy has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University. She also is a graduate of the Broad Residency in Urban Education.
Private Equity Investments in Impact Investing
Interest by private equity investors in impact investing has recently exploded, driven by client demand. Early players in this space, such as TPG, KKR, and Bain Capital, have explored various impact and ESG strategies across their portfolios.
- What is driving this trend?
- Given the scale of these firms, where are they finding profitable opportunities?
- What career opportunities might there be for impact investing in private equity?
Chris Cozzone, Senior VP Double Impact, Bain Capital Double Impact Fund
John F. Larkin, Head of Impact Investments, Avenue Capital Group
Elizabeth Seeger, Director Sustainable Investing, KKR
Moderator: Erica Kelly, Case Team Leader, The Bridgespan Group
Bios
Chris Cozzone joined Bain Capital’s global private equity team in London in 2011 and transferred to the double impact team in 2016. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Mr. Cozzone was a consultant in Bain & Company’s Dubai and San Francisco offices, a private equity investor with Cinven in Europe and a consultant for the Africa Transport unit at the World Bank. Mr. Cozzone is also involved in seed stage impact investing as a Mustard Seed Fellow. Mr. Cozzone holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford, a master’s in economics from The Sorbonne University in Paris, and a master’s in engineering from the Mining School of Paris.
John F. Larkin is responsible for the overall direction of the Avenue Impact Team. He sits on the fund’s investment committee assisting in the strategic direction, sourcing of key relationships, and advising on investment opportunities. Previously, Mr. Larkin was head of alternative investments – Americas at Deutsche Bank, where he managed the private asset platform which included private equity, hedge funds and real estate investments. While at Deutsche Bank, he served as a board member to various investment funds with fiduciary oversight and as a speaker on the topic of climate change. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Larkin was head of private investments within Merrill Lynch and later co-head of Third Party Alternative Investments at Citigroup. Mr. Larkin currently serves on the board of Cogent Energy Systems and previously as a board member of North American Biofuels Co and advisor to Amelio Solar. These firms focused on innovative technology in the cleantech sector where he has been an avid personal investor and spokesman for the past 15 years. Mr. Larkin is a retired navy commander/pilot and holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (1984) where he currently serves on the Tuchman School of Management advisory board.
Elizabeth Seeger (Washington, D.C.) joined KKR in 2009 to help oversee the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues throughout KKR’s investment process, including the management of KKR’s ESG-focused value creation programs for its portfolio companies. She is also a member of KKR’s Global Impact team. Ms. Seeger was previously a project manager in the corporate partnerships program of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Prior to EDF, she was a consultant with the Corporate Executive Board (CEB), where she advised companies from a broad range of industries in Europe and the United States. Before CEB, Ms. Seeger was an associate at the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on environmental law and policy research and education. She is a 2013 Aspen Institute First Movers Fellow and became a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board in 2017. Ms. Seeger has close to 20 years of experience working on corporate environmental and social issues and earned a BA with honors from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Erica Kelly is a case team leader with The Bridgespan Group in Boston. Her focus areas there have been in the impact investing, education, and global development spaces. She currently co-leads the team which provides “impact underwriting” to The Rise Fund, a $2B impact investment fund managed by the private equity firm TPG. Prior to Bridgespan, Erica worked in consulting at Bain & Company in their private equity group and on consumer goods, pharma, and social sector projects, and at Kaiser Associates across healthcare, CPG, and telecommunications sectors. She also spent a couple years in finance with Wells Fargo. Erica earned her master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she focused on economic development and international relations. During her time there, she spent three months working with Proximity Designs and Finance in Myanmar, and completed on-the-ground thesis research in Nepal. She grew up in Kenya, Lesotho, and the DRC. Erica lives in Boston with her husband and dog.
Trends in Social Impact Real Estate Development + Affordable Housing
Community revitalization and affordable housing developers have taken an increasingly more systemic view of their projects. Real estate, transportation, healthcare, education, and other services are now an integral part of the development process.
- What are examples of innovative projects pursued in community development?
- Who are the players that help connect stakeholders to pull the project together for success?
- What is the role of policy and government to enable public private partnerships?
Hugh R. Frater ’85BUS, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Fannie Mae, VEREIT, Shift Capital
Muzzy Rosenblatt, CEO and President, Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC)
Lauren Zullo, Director of Environmental Impact, Jonathan Rose Companies
Moderator: Thomas Campbell ’09BUS, Managing Member, Thorobird Companies
Bios
On October 6, 2018, Fannie Mae appointed Hugh R. Frater as interim chief executive officer of the company. Mr. Frater has been a member of Fannie Mae’s board of directors since January 2016. Mr. Frater serves as non-executive chairman of the Board of VEREIT, Inc. and as a director of ABR Reinsurance Capital Holdings Ltd. He previously led Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (“Berkadia”), a national commercial real estate company providing comprehensive capital solutions and investment sales advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties. He served as chairman of Berkadia from April 2014 to December 2015 and he served as chief executive officer of Berkadia from 2010 to April 2014. Earlier in his career, Mr. Frater was an executive vice president at PNC Financial Services, where he led the real estate division, and he was a founding partner and managing director of BlackRock, Inc. Mr. Frater has a bachelor of arts in English from Dartmouth College, and a master of business administration in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he serves on the board of overseers.
Muzzy Rosenblatt is CEO and president of BRC, one of the most successful and innovative nonprofits working in service to New Yorkers without homes. Muzzy facilitates and leads the organization as it strategically grows to achieve ever greater impact, and further benefit the people and the city it serves. This includes recruiting and retaining exceptional talent, applying data-driven adaptive management practices that drive program innovation, ensuring rigorous and responsible financial management practices, and articulating thoughtful perspectives to better shape and influence public policy and philanthropy. Prior to BRC, Muzzy held several positions in NYC government under Mayors Koch, Dinkins and Giuliani, including first deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the NYC Department of Homeless Services. He earned an MPA from NYU Wagner and a BA from Wesleyan University, where he served on its board of trustees. Muzzy serves as a volunteer board member of nonprofit and civic organizations, and is frequently asked to serve on government task forces. A native New Yorker who grew up in Manhattan, attending PS 158 and Hunter College High School, he now resides in “the hills of the forest” in the county of Queens.
Lauren Zullo joined Jonathan Rose Companies in 2017 as director of environmental impact, where she is responsible for overseeing environmental and healthy building design, retrofit, certification, and reporting initiatives across all of the firm’s business practices. Prior to joining Jonathan Rose Companies, she worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental nonprofit where she led initiatives to scale up market-based strategies to improve the environmental performance of large buildings and tenant spaces. Ms. Zullo previously held roles in development, property management, and sustainability for the commercial real estate firm Greenebaum & Rose Associates in Washington, DC. Lauren received her AB from Bowdoin College with a focus on biology and sociology, and serves on the Well Building Concept advisory, BIT Building advisory board, and Healthy Building Network’s HomeFree advisory committee.
Thomas Campbell is a founding member of Thorobird Companies, a social enterprise real estate investor. Thorobird assists owners, churches, communities, and governments in the development and execution of impactful real estate investments. Thomas believes that there is no better way in business to make a difference than social impact investing. Thomas leverages a background in quantitative finance and real estate development and an urban upbringing to create impactful investments for investors and communities. Prior to Thorobird, Thomas worked as quantitative analyst, an association portfolio manager, and an institutional investment advisor in the realm of finance, and as a real estate construction loan underwriter, and later as a managing director of development director in the realm of real estate. A native of Lakeland, Florida, Thomas received a BA in economics and international relations from Colgate University and received a MBA in real estate finance and entrepreneurship from Columbia Business School. He serves as a deacon at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church, where he manages the Prison and Young Adult ministries. Thomas lives in New York with his lovely wife, artist Ai Campbell, and Chihuahua, Tudy.
Capital Deployment for Scaling Social Ventures
This panel, featuring B Corp ventures, explores using business as a force for good. Learn about how ventures are using capital to scale their societal impact.
- How robust is the landscape of capital providers to socially driven organizations that enable the scaling of these organizations or ventures?
- What are the barriers for traditional VCs shifting more attention to social impact businesses?
- How does the B Corp certification help companies attract mission-aligned capital for scale? What are some examples of sizable investments that have helped grow these B Corps? Is this capital easier to attract for B2C vs B2B?
Jessie Gould, Founder, OxVerte
Alex Husted, Founder, HELPSY
Peter Neiman, Executive VP and Chief of Marketing Officer, Amalgamated Bank
Moderator: Julius Mokrauer, Managing Director and Fund Manager, Serious Change LP
Bios
Jessie Gould is passionate about transforming diet to create a healthier world. Before founding Ox, Jessie spent three years at Organic Avenue as VP of operations and VP of brand and marketing after a seven year career in investment banking and private equity. Jessie holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA in economics and mechanical engineering from Yale University.
Alex Husted is a founder of HELPSY, the region’s largest clothing reuse and recycling business. As a leader at HELPSY, he works tirelessly to curb the massive amount of textiles that are currently discarded. More than 85% of discarded clothing goes into the trash rather than being reused or recycled.
Peter Neiman joined Amalgamated Bank in 2016 from Unum Group where he served nine years as Vice President of Brand and Advertising. He led the repositioning and marketing efforts for all of Unum’s insurance brands in the U.S. and U.K. Before that, Peter was a Senior Vice President at a number of large New York City advertising agencies including, Grey, JWT, Ogilvy and Bozell. Over his career, he has created integrated marketing campaigns for thirty-five companies including financial industry giants Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, NASDAQ and Commerce Bank.
Julius Mokrauer is managing director and fund manager at Serious Change Investments LP, where he advises and supports CEOs of portfolio companies on strategy and operations-related issues such as marketing, business development, management, and organization. Previously, Julius co-founded RangeView Capital, an investment firm specializing in high frequency trading, and co-founded Milestone Partners International, an international management consulting firm. He earned his BS and MS from Rutgers University and his MBA from Stanford University.
Opportunity Zones + Community Development Financing
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides incentives to invest in opportunity zones. With this new code, the development community has the potential to create significant change in mobilizing capital to rural and low-income communities across the U.S.
- How will these zones be set up to incentivize place-based investing?
- What types of capital and projects are likely to be implemented?
- Who are the potential beneficiaries?
Shafron (Shay) Hawkins ’02BUS, Legislative Assistant, Office for Senator Time Scott
Ron Moelis, CEO and Founding Partner, L+M Development Partners
Moderator: Lynne Sagalyn, Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Emerita of Real Estate, CBS
Bios
Shay Hawkins is legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), a member of the Senate Committee on Finance. He also serves as staff director for the Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth. In this capacity, Hawkins is Senator Scott’s lead policy advisor on tax and trade issues. He previously served as a legislative fellow to Representative Jim Renacci, (R-OH 16) a member of the Ways and Means Committee. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Hawkins spent five years as an investment banker, and later worked as a field coordinator with The LIBRE Initiative. A native of Cleveland Ohio, Hawkins started his career as a broker in the online division of what is now Credit Suisse. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from The Ohio State University, his MBA from Columbia Business School as a Credit Suisse First Boston Fellow, and his JD from the Moritz College of Law at OSU.
Ron Moelis is a co-founder of L+M Development Partners and its affiliated companies. He is a founding member of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing and an advisory board member of the New York City Housing Partnership, and sits on the board of governors of the Real Estate Board of New York. Ron also serves on the board of trustees of New York University School of Law, board of trustees of John Jay College and board of trustees for Montefiore Health Systems. He is also on the national advisory board at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, the advisory board at the Furman Center at New York University, and the Mt. Sinai Surgery advisory board. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he holds both a BA in history and a BS in economics from the Wharton School and a JD from New York University. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year for Real Estate in 2012 by Ernst and Young for his many years of innovation and creativity in real estate finance and development.
Lynne Sagalyn is the Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Emerita of Real Estate at Columbia Business School, where she was formerly the director of the MBA Real Estate Program and the founding director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate. An expert in real estate development and finance, Sagalyn has published extensively on a broad range of issues in the fields of urban development finance, public/private partnerships, and real estate finance. In addition to which, she has developed scores of cases for graduate-level teaching of real estate finance and investment strategy and been an innovator in curriculum for real estate study. Sagalyn is widely known for her research on city building. Her most recent book, Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money, and the Rebuilding of Lower Manhattan (Oxford University Press), has received continuous praise and is regarded as the definitive account of that rebuilding challenge. Her earlier books on city building include Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon (MIT Press, 2001), and, Downtown Inc.: How America Rebuilds Cities, co-authored (MIT Press, 1989).
Keynote: Using Capital to Ensure Access to Quality Healthcare
Caroline Roan ‘00SIPA, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility and President, Pfizer, Inc. and Pfizer Foundation
Moderator: Diana Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
Bios
Caroline Roan oversees Pfizer’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) function, from stakeholder engagement and reporting, to the design of social investment strategies. During her tenure, Pfizer has refined its CR strategy to better support the company’s evolving business priorities. The resulting CR portfolio is a coordinated approach to strategic philanthropy and responsible investment which invests the full scope of the company’s resources to broaden access to medicines and strengthen health care delivery for underserved people around the world. Prior to joining Pfizer, Caroline worked on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Community Health Team, which focused on promoting individual and community health by increasing social support and connection. Caroline was also Associate Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) at Yale University’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. In 2012 Caroline was selected and served as a David Rockefeller Fellow through the Partnership for New York City. In 2015, Caroline was named as a CR Super Star by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. She currently serves on the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, the advocacy arm of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Caroline received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology and anthropology from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, and her Masters of Public Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Diana Hernández (PhD) focuses her work on the social and environmental determinants of health by querying the impacts of policy and place-based interventions on the health and socioeconomic well-being of vulnerable populations. Her community-oriented research examines the intersections between the built environment (housing and neighborhoods), poverty/equity and health with a particular emphasis on energy insecurity. Much of her research is conducted in her native South Bronx neighborhood, where she also lives and invests in social impact real estate. Dr. Hernández is currently a principal or co-investigator on several projects related to structural interventions in low-income housing (e.g. energy efficiency upgrades, cleaner burning fuel source conversions, smoke-free housing compliance, new finance and capital improvement models in public housing, and post-Sandy resilience among public housing residents) or otherwise related to alleviating the consequences of poverty on health (i.e. attrition study of the Nurse Family Partnership Program and qualitative evaluation of the Medical Legal Partnership model). Her work is currently funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the JPB Foundation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, among others. Her research has been published in leading journals including the American Journal of Public Health, Energy Policy, Public Health Reports and Energy Research and Social Sciences. Professor Hernandez teaches Qualitative Research Methods at the graduate level and has also taught undergraduate courses on health disparities and cultural competence. She has advised numerous master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. In addition, she actively engages in a variety translational research activities through consulting, board service and social entrepreneurship.
Intergenerational Wealth Transfer + Millennials Driving Impact
Trillions of dollars are going to transfer to the millennial generation in the coming years. Surveys indicate that millennials are driving a lot of interests in impact investing.
- How will this impact the private wealth management sector? What are the types of products and services offered to clients?
- What strategies are millennials exploring to align their wealth with their values?
- What sectors or industry areas are most impacted by this? Where will the capital go?
Ghislain Gouraige, Jr., Managing Director of Investments, UBS
Abigail Pohlman, VP of Investment Management Division, Goldman Sachs
Anna Raginskaya, Private Wealth Advisor, Morgan Stanley, The Blue Rider Group
Moderator: Tami Kesselman, Chief Impact Strategist & Alchemist, Aligned Investing Global
Bios
As a private wealth advisor, Ghislain Gouraige has been working with ultra high net worth families, endowments, and foundations for nearly three decades, helping them meet their investment needs, philanthropic goals, and lifestyle objectives. He is focused on assisting entrepreneurs and their families navigate issues they face through their business transition, offering assistance with thorough and strategic planning. Ghislain serves as the chief marketing officer of the team, developing synergistic relationships with other trusted professionals and community leaders. Prior to joining UBS with the team in 2006, Ghislain was a senior vice president and private client advisor in Bank of America’s Private Bank, and a vice president and investment representative with the Private Client Division of Lehman Brothers in Miami, Florida. He has also worked at Merrill Lynch and Citibank throughout his decades of experience in the financial services industry. Ghislain began his career as an associate attorney in the corporate and securities department of the law firm of Steel Hector and Davis. He received an honors BA in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Harvard Law School. Ghislain has been recognized as an industry leader by several major organizations such as Forbes, Financial Times, and Barron’s for the past five years. He is also a Certified Exit Planning Advisor® (CEPA), providing a unique, value additive offering to our entrepreneurial client base. Ghislain is very active in the community, currently serving on the board of directors of the Ayiti Community Trust, the Dade Fund, board of overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and the James Brister Society of University of Pennsylvania. He has previously been a board member of Ransom Everglades School (former Chair), Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Library board of overseers, WPBT Channel 2, New World Symphony, Florida Governor’s Haiti advisory group, Miami Foundation, Miami City Club (president), Frost Museum of Science, Bayfront Park Management Trust (chair) among others. Ghislain lives in Coral Gables, FL with his wife Marjorie and their two great danes, as evolving nesters with their four children all out of the house.
Abigail Pohlman is a vice president in the investment management division, based in New York, where she is responsible for the development and execution of the Institutional Client Solutions (ICS) business’s overall strategy. She is also responsible for overseeing the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and impact investing business within Private Wealth Management (PWM). Abigail joined Goldman Sachs in 2007 as an analyst on the Los Angeles PWM regional management team, where she assisted senior management in managing the business and worked with clients to implement customized investment strategies to meet their financial needs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Abigail worked in a business development capacity for a California-based nonprofit organization, where she focused on helping regions around the world maximize the commercial potential of their publicly funded R&D in the context of their overall commercialization efforts. She received a BA in international development from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Anna Raginskaya is a Private Wealth Advisor with the Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley, a boutique advisory focused on serving the art community including prominent collectors, artists, foundations, museums, and non-profit organizations. The Blue Rider Group is committed to sustainable and impact investing, actively incorporating strategies that utilize environmental, social and governance criteria to make investment decisions, helping create positive change and drive investment returns. Prior to joining the Blue Rider Group she worked as a strategic consultant for Sotheby’s and several non-profit arts organizations. She also has experience in collections management, art storage and logistics having been a Vice President at UOVO. Anna started her career as an analyst at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Anna earned her BA from Harvard College and MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a member of the Schools Committee of the Harvard Club of New York City, and is a partner of the VIA Art Fund.
A pioneering thought leader on impact investing, Tami Kesselman is a Harvard-trained strategist and former Bain consultant working at the intersection of the highest levels of business, nonprofit and government, including serving as chair for the Capital Markets Leadership Roundtable at the United Nations and as strategy advisor to multiple big data, blockchain, and blended capital initiatives globally. Known for her proprietary diligence framework, InvestingSMART, Tami frequently advises asset managers, investors and entrepreneurs on specific changes to diligence filters to improve their results as they are increasingly being tasked with simultaneously meeting financial and impact targets. She also lectures on the topic at Harvard Business School and at conferences for business audiences around the world. Often tapped for her ability to intuitively connect multiple perspectives, across sectors and intergenerationally, Tami is on the NEXUS Impact Investing Steering Committee, an ‘Investable Solutions’ track lead for SOCAP/Good Capital Project, President of Harvard Alumni in Social Impact & Investing for Good and, in 2018, was elected to the Harvard Kennedy School’s global alumni Board of Directors. She is on the Advisory Board of IMI’s Emerging Managers Association, annually chairs Opal’s Family Office Impact Investing Forum, and has emceed multiple TEDx events. Ever an evangelist for impact-with-alpha, Tami is always up for the opportunity to inspire traditional investors to shift to an impact investing mindset while remaining true to their market objectives.
Sports Philanthropy
Sports are undeniably a powerful, innovative tool for positive social good. Impact initiatives targeted by today’s sports philanthropy organizations include educational and social empowerment, physical and mental health, peacekeeping strategy in war torn countries, racial injustice and gender equality, economic opportunity and poverty alleviation, and climate and sustainability. The sports philanthropy community is far-reaching and growing quickly. Which strategies, locations, and communities are creating and receiving the most positive change and how will the industry continue to expand?
Eric DiMeceli, Director of Social Responsibility, National Basketball Association
Olga Harvey, VP of Community Impact, Women’s Sports Foundation
Tom Purves, Director of Social Responsibility, Major League Soccer
Ben Schornack, Program Officer, Laureus Foundation
Moderator: Lawrence Cann ’13BUS, Founder and CEO, Street Soccer USA
Bios
As director of social responsibility, Eric DiMiceli oversees the league’s NBA Cares platforms and partnerships, including programs like NBA FIT and Hoops for Troops. DiMiceli works closely with partners in developing integrated and sustainable community outreach programs, targeting key areas like education, youth and family development, and health and wellness. DiMiceli supports the league’s many international grassroots and community outreach events such as NBA Global Games, Basketball Without Borders, and the Jr. NBA. DiMiceli began his career at the NBA in 2006, and is involved in a variety of volunteer projects and organizations, including youth mentoring, Rebuilding Together, and New York Cares. DiMiceli holds a BS in business management with a concentration in sports management from Sacred Heart University where he played Division I baseball. He and his wife, Jacqueline, have two daughters, three-year old Isabella and 15-month-old Valentina, and reside in Crestwood, NY with their puppy, Teddy.
Olga Harvey brings 20 years of business experience and boundless passion for sports to the Women’s Sports Foundation where she is leading the community impact team with primary focus on youth engagement and athlete leadership. Olga’s entry into sports and philanthropy was at the New York Junior Tennis & Learning, where she managed marketing, special events, and development. Prior to NYJTL, Olga worked at Daymon Worldwide, the global retail brand development firm. Her experience included roles in retail, analytics, human resources, information technology, and business management. In 2006 she became company’s youngest vice president and officer responsible for global sourcing and business development. Olga is a native of Moscow, Russia. She received a bachelor’s in business management and marketing from Cornell University, where she played on the varsity tennis team. She was the team captain and holds a 21-0 record in Ivy League singles play. She was two-time Ivy League player of the year and was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. Since graduating from Cornell, Olga stayed involved in tennis by joining the United States Tennis Association. She is an avid player and volunteer with USTA. Olga currently serves as the officer on the USTA eastern board of directors and is a member of the USTA National Committee for Diversity and Inclusion. Olga is married to Dave Harvey (basketball player and marathon runner) and is a proud mother of two boys, Max (10) and Alex (7), who enjoy swimming and ice skating. In addition to tennis, Olga loves golf, downhill skiing, and mountain biking.
Ben Schornack is a program officer for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. He currently manages place-based giving and coalition-building in NYC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He previously worked as the NYC director for Up2Us Sports, where he managed local fundraising, programming, and coach development. Prior to Up2Us, Ben has worked as a program manager and basketball coach, and he is a proud alumnus of AmeriCorps VISTA. He sits on the advisory board for the St John’s Sports Management program and regularly guest-lectures there. Ben believes that well-designed sports programs can provide youth with a caring coach-mentor, an opportunity to build transferable skills, and a safe space that allows healing from traumatic or stressful life circumstances. Throughout his career, he has worked with community organizations and stakeholders to merge assets and build capacity to achieve these high-impact outcomes. Ben lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Jenna. He graduated from Central College in Iowa with a BA in psychology.
Lawrence Cann is the founder and CEO of Street Soccer USA, a leading organization in the use of sport for social change. Lawrence was recognized with the 2017 NYU Sports & Business Society’s Philanthropy Award, was selected to the inaugural class of AMEX Ashoka Emerging Global Leaders in Social Entrepreneurship. He has also been honored by People Magazine, being named a Hero Among Us in 2009 and as the 2010 winner of the Kuykendall Award for Community Service by his alma mater, Davidson College. Lawrence is an MBA graduate of Columbia University, where he spent time planning the growth and development of Street Soccer USA as a social enterprise.
Clean Energy + Renewables
Capital and investing is flowing into clean energy and renewables, creating opportunities for technology to be scaled to address the growing energy needs of society. Generation Z is moving towards careers in promising green sectors including batteries, storage, and off grid solutions.
- Can this be scaled fast enough to meet significant and growing demand?
- What other supportive infrastructure and plans need to be invested in to make these solutions scalable?
- Who is providing capital to scale these innovations?
Peter W. Davidson, CEO and Co-founder, Aligned Intermediary
Nate McMurry ’10BUS, VP of Divestiture & Portfolio Management, EDF Renewable Energy
Moderator: Bruce Usher, Co-director of the Tamer Center, Elizabeth B. Strickler ‘86 and Mark T. Gallogly ‘86 Faculty Director, Professor of Professional Practice, CBS
Bios
Peter W. Davidson is a co-founder, board member, and CEO of the Aligned Intermediary (AI), an investment advisory group created to help long-term investors (LTIs) channel significant amounts of institutional capital into climate infrastructure investments including clean energy, water infrastructure, and waste-to-value projects. Prior to AI, Peter was the executive director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy. Appointed to that position by President Obama in May 2013, he oversaw the program’s more than $30 billion portfolio of loans and loan guarantees, making it the largest project finance organization in the U.S. government. Among the many clean energy projects supported by his office were the first new nuclear power facility to be built in the U.S. in 30 years and the nation’s first-ever commercial-scale offshore wind facility. Before LPO, Peter was the executive director of New York State’s economic development agency, the Empire State Development Corporation. Before entering government service, Peter founded and/or managed six media companies serving the rapidly-growing Hispanic market, including ownership of el Diario/La Prensa, New York City’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, as well as three Univision-affiliated TV stations. Since 2001, Peter has been chairman of the JM Kaplan Fund, a family foundation with over $150 million in assets. Under his leadership, he has redirected the foundation’s grantmaking focus towards environmental conservation, urban green space and sustainable transportation. Peter is also a fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, an adjunct professor and adjunct research scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Earlier in his career, Peter was an executive in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley & Co. He holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. For the past 25 years, Peter has lived in Brooklyn, NY, where he also serves on a number of boards of local Brooklyn institutions.
Nate McMurry is the VP for divestiture & portfolio strategy for EDF Renewables. He is responsible for asset M&A in North America, as well as various corporate strategy and corporate growth initiatives. He joined EDF Renewables in 2015, when his prior company, the wind project developer OwnEnergy, was acquired by EDF Renewables. At OwnEnergy, Nate served as the interim vice president of finance, where he was responsible for all aspects of managing strategic transactions, financial structuring, and corporate finance. Prior to joining OwnEnergy, he served as an investment banker for Greentech Capital Advisors. At Greentech, he advised clients on M&A and private placement transactions across a number of industry verticals, including onshore and offshore wind, solar, and LED lighting, and also helped lead transactions in the electric vehicles, geothermal and power equipment sectors. Prior to Greentech, he worked in the environmental markets practice at PIRA Energy Group. Nate holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he double majored in finance and economics. Nate lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young children.
Bruce Usher is a Professor of Practice and the Elizabeth B. Strickler ’86 and Mark T. Gallogly ’86 Faculty Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. Professor Usher teaches on the intersection of finance, social, and environmental issues, and is a recipient of the Singhvi Prize for Scholarship in the Classroom and the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Prior to his work at Columbia, Professor Usher was CEO of EcoSecurities Group plc, which developed greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in developing countries. EcoSecurities was acquired by JP Morgan in 2009. Professor Usher was previously the co-founder and CEO of TreasuryConnect LLC, which provided electronic trading solutions to banks and was acquired in 2001. Prior to that, he worked in financial services for twelve years in New York and Tokyo. Professor Usher is an active investor and advisor to entrepreneurial ventures focused on climate change and clean energy (UsherWorks.com). He is a board member of Community Energy Inc., OptiRTC Inc, the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships, and is chair of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. Usher earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.
Foundations with Impact Focused Portfolios
Foundations have started to reposition their portfolios to focus their whole investment portfolios and endowments around social impact. This change has the potential to be a major shift in ohw funders use all of their resources to achieve impact, not just the 5% of their endowment income.
- What are the innovative ways foundations can align their investment strategies with pressing societal challenges?
- What are the constraints or risks in pursuing these types of strategies?
- What are the lessons learned for other sources of philanthropic capital?
Bob Bancroft, VP of Finance, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Preeti Bhattacharji ’14BUS ’09CC, VP of Integrated Capitals, Heron Foundation
Shuaib A. Siddiqui, Director of Impact Investing, Surdna Foundation
Moderator: Lily Trager, Executive Director and Director of Investing with Impact, Morgan Stanley
Bios
Bob Bancroft is vice president, finance for the Nathan Cummings Foundation, a multi-generational family foundation focused on justice for people and planet. Bob has over 18 years of nonprofit and entrepreneurial experience in finance, investments, and technology. His focus is on enhancing the foundation’s financial operations, governance, and impact to support partners and achieve mission. Earlier this year, NCF announced a commitment to 100% mission-aligned investing. Bob is leading the foundation’s efforts to leverage its entire endowment as a tool for economic and environmental justice. Bob previously served as director of finance and tax for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a private, independent foundation dedicated to advancing the education of high-achieving students from all backgrounds who have financial need. While there, Bob took a leading role in transforming the way the foundation’s $700 million endowment was managed and helped lay the groundwork for its program-related investments portfolio. Prior to his tenure in the nonprofit sector, Bob—who is also a certified public accountant—launched a successful small business venture and also served as controller for a foodservice distributor. Bob graduated from Boston University summa cum laude, with a BS in management.
Preeti Bhattacharji is a vice president of integrated capitals at Heron. Prior to joining Heron, she served as an assistant director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing and a research associate for the Council on Foreign Relations. Preeti has also completed projects for ImpactAssets, Center4, the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and the Rachel Maddow Show. Preeti received her BA magna cum laude from Columbia University and her MBA with Dean’s honors from Columbia Business School, where she won the Nathan Gantcher Prize for Social Enterprise.
Shuaib A. Siddiqui serves as the director of impact investing at the Surdna Foundation, where he manages Surdna’s impact investing portfolio, leading an effort to better align the foundation’s investment policies and practices with its mission. He works with the program teams to investigate ways to realize both social and financial returns through program- and mission-related investing. Prior to Surdna, Shuaib spent nine years at Acumen, where he most recently was the director of global portfolio. Acumen, an impact investing pioneer, raises charitable donations and investor capital to invest in companies, leaders, and ideas that are changing the way the world tackles poverty. Prior to Acumen, Shuaib was an analyst at Citadel Investment Group, a hedge fund based in Chicago. Prior to that, he was an assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch. He holds a BA in economics from New York University.
Lily S. Trager is an executive director and the director of investing with impact for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. For over a decade, she has dedicated her career to sustainable and impact investing. Lily joined the firm in 2014; previously, from 2007 until 2014, Lily worked for Veris Wealth Partners in New York, a registered investment advisory focused exclusively on serving clients with interest in sustainable and impact investing, most recently as head of research. Lily began her career at Cambridge Associates, where she worked on teams overseeing $3.9 billion in nonprofit, high-net-worth and foundation investment portfolios. Lily was named to the 2018 class of MAKERS @ Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a recognition that celebrates women who are ground breakers, advocates, and innovators in their given field. Lily earned a MBA in sustainable business from Presidio Graduate School and her BA in anthropology from Bates College. She also co-founded Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE), a professional networking group in New York City with chapters in Boston, DC, San Francisco, Toronto and London. Lily lives in Manhattan with her family.
Closing Keynote
Darren Walker, President, The Ford Foundation
Moderator: Damon Phillips, Co-director of the Tamer Center, Lambert Family Professor of Social Enterprise, CBS
Bios
Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, an international social justice philanthropy with a $13 billion endowment and $600 million in annual grant making. For two decades, he has been a leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Darren led the philanthropy committee that helped bring a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy, and chairs the US Alliance on Impact Investing. He co-chairs New York City’s Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and serves on the Commission on the Future of Riker’s Island Correctional Institution and the UN International Labor Organization Commission on the Future of Work. He also serves on the boards of Carnegie Hall, the High Line and the Committee to Protect Journalists, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Damon J. Phillips is the Lambert Family Professor of Social Enterprise. He received his PhD from Stanford University. Before joining Columbia in 2011, he was on the faculty of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (from 1998-2011). During the 2010-2011 academic year he was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Professor Phillips has expertise in social structural approaches to labor and product markets, entrepreneurship, innovation, organizational strategy and structure, as well as social network theory and analysis. His industry specialties are markets for professional services (law, consulting, investment banking) and culture (music industry). His 2013 acclaimed book, “Shaping Jazz,” is an innovative study of the emergence and evolution of the market for recorded jazz. In addition to publishing in top journals within management and sociology, Professor Phillips has been on the editorial board of the Administrative Science Quarterly, an Associate Editor with Management Science, and was a Consulting Editor at the American Journal of Sociology. Professor Phillips is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Morehouse College with a bachelor’s degree in physics. He earned his first master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned a second master’s degree in sociology from Stanford University. Before pursuing his PhD at Stanford, he worked as an engineer and researcher affiliated with the U.S. Air Force (Lincoln Labs, MA) and was an executive in a family-owned electronics manufacturing business. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, learning to play instruments, and listening to music. Areas of Expertise: The Sociology of Labor Markets and Professional Careers Social Networks Managing Innovation, Creativity, and Change Entrepreneurial Management.